Motherwell’s Braidhurst High School, a participant in our Green Legacy Project, marked the centenary year of WW1 on a number of occasions throughout last year. In addition to choosing the theme of the centenary for the design of their hives, the school held a moving Remembrance Day service and organised a recreation of one of the most iconic moments of the Great War – the ‘Christmas Truce’
The Truce was the moment Allied and German forces on the Western front shared an impromptu and unofficial ceasefire on Christmas Day, 1914. Accounts from the time report opposing soldiers putting their weapons down and crossing ‘no-man’s land’ instead to share gifts and even play football with one another. Pupils studying history at Braidhurst, including some members of the school’s Beekeeping Team, were keen to pay tribute to this moment by re-enacting a match between Allied and German forces.
Pupils were divided into Allied and German sides, having the opportunity to dress in the appropriate uniforms and even play with a replica of the type of ball used at that time. Players traded gifts with each other and exchanged festive greetings in a poignant reminder of a most human moment in an inhumane war. Braidhurst will be revealing their WW1 themed design of their hive once it has been voted on this month. Our own video tribute to the fallen soldiers of WW1 can be seen here.